Art installation at city centre mall paints the town red - literally

The 8.5m tall newcomer has a paintbrush as its inspiration and has been erected on the side of the East Mall.

It is to celebrate the inaugural City of Colours Festival, the UK’s biggest street art festival which opens in Birmingham on September 6.

Tim Walley, General Manager of Bullring Birmingham said: “At Bullring we feel it’s important to support different industries in Birmingham and the City of Colours Festival is a fantastic celebration of street art culture in the city.

“Whether it’s rapping, graffiti art or even live illustration battles, Birmingham has some incredible talent.

“We want to make sure that there’s a suitable platform in place for these artists to progress, which is why we’re working closely with Street Art Birmingham.

“The installation is really breathtaking and it’s been a pleasure to work with the artist on this.

“We hope our shoppers enjoy the new addition to the centre, we encourage everyone to share their own images of the installation and tell us what inspires them with our #BullringInspiration competition.”

The artwork, named Painting the Town Red, was created by the same artistic mastermind behind the Paralympic Opening Ceremony floats, Filthy Luker - Luke Egan.

In addition he has crafted installations across the world including stage sets for Cirque De Soleil and many major music festivals.

The City of Colours Festival will see over 100 street artists take to the roads of Digbeth and also perform and display their work at ten venues.

* Shoppers can tweet @Bullring with their own pictures of the installation and an explanation of what inspires them #BullringInspiration. The best answer will win a pack of street art goodies courtesy of the City of Colours Festival.